6 Mind-Blowing Things Floating in Space That You Won’t Believe Are Real

Space is supposed to be empty, silent, and cold… right? Well, not exactly. Beyond the usual stars, planets, and black holes, our universe is hiding some truly bizarre things, so strange that they sound made up, except they’re not.

Below are six of the weirdest cosmic discoveries scientists have stumbled upon so far. And yes, some of them are so wild they feel straight out of a sci-fi comedy.

1. A Planet Made of Diamonds

Imagine a world where the ground beneath your feet is literally diamonds.

That world exists.

Orbiting a star just 40 light-years away in the constellation Cancer, the planet 55 Cancri e is about twice the size of Earth, and insanely dense. Researchers believe its surface isn’t rock and water like ours, but graphite and crystallized diamond.

Before you start packing your mining gear, here’s the catch:

• Its “year” lasts only 18 hours.
• The temperature reaches a blistering 3,900°F.
• Water? Basically none.
• Glamour? Plenty.

Oh, and about one-third of the planet’s mass is thought to be pure diamond.

Somewhere, Kim Kardashian just whispered: “I need it.”

2. The Largest Body of Water… in the Universe

Earth’s oceans suddenly feel small.

Scientists discovered the biggest and oldest water reservoir ever found, and it’s not in some alien ocean; it’s floating in deep space as a massive water vapor cloud.

How massive?

• It contains 140 trillion times the amount of water in Earth’s oceans.
• Enough to give every human a whole planet’s worth of water 20,000 times over.
• It could hydrate 28 entire galaxies.

This enormous water cloud hangs around a black hole, shooting out energy, which literally creates water by smashing hydrogen and oxygen atoms together.

Basically, it’s the universe’s biggest cosmic watering hole. Imagine aliens lining up for a splash like it’s a giant space waterpark.

3. Lightning in Outer Space

We already know planets like Jupiter and Saturn have lightning. But actual lightning in space itself? That was new.

In 2011, researchers discovered the strongest electric current ever detected, located 2 billion light-years away near galaxy 3C303.

This cosmic current:

• Measures one quintillion amps.
• Equals one trillion lightning bolts.
• It could probably send the DeLorean 20 million years into the future.

Scientists believe a powerful black hole’s magnetic fields generate the current, lighting up an enormous cosmic jet stretching 150,000 light-years into space.

Even Zeus would lose a lightning duel here.

4. A Cloud That Smells Like Rum and Tastes Like Raspberries

Yes, the universe apparently has a sense of humor.

Near the center of the Milky Way is a giant dust cloud called Sagittarius B2, and it’s filled with ethyl formate, the molecule responsible for the taste of raspberries and the smell of rum.

This cloud contains:

• About a billion billion billion liters of “cosmic rum.”
• Zero chance of being drinkable (thanks to nasty chemicals like propyl cyanide).

So sadly, the dream of space happy hour is canceled. For now.

5. A Planet Covered in Burning Ice

Located 30 light-years away in Leo, the planet Gliese 436 b is one of the weirdest things astronomers have found

It’s covered in ice that’s on fire.

Here’s how that works:

• Temperatures exceed 570°F, hot enough to boil metal…
• …but extreme pressure forces the water to remain frozen.
• Gravity squeezes the molecules so tightly they can’t evaporate, even while burning.

It’s basically a cosmic ball of flaming ice.

Physics is doing its own thing out there.

6. The Dark World

Some planets reflect light like mirrors.

This one absorbs it like a void.

The mysterious exoplanet TrES-2b reflects only 1% of the light that hits it, making it darker than coal, darker than black paint, darker than anything we’ve ever seen.

Scientists aren’t sure why, but theories include:

• No reflective clouds due to extreme heat
• A light-absorbing chemical atmosphere
• Or something far stranger

Right now, it’s basically the universe’s black hole–aesthetic cousin.

Final Thoughts: Are Aliens Using This Stuff?

Every time scientists discover another cosmic oddity, it raises one fun question:

If aliens exist… do they use these places?

Maybe:

• They recharge their ships at the lightning world,
• Take their partners shopping on the diamond planet,
• Hit the water cloud for a wash,
• And end the night at Sagittarius B2 for a cosmic drink.

Hey, if we had these things in our galaxy, we’d probably do the same.